Collection of artificial yarn on ring spindles



Nov. 14, 1950 s. w. BARKER 2,530,146

comc'nou 0F ARTIFICIAL YARN 0N RING SPINDLES Filed Nov. 24, 1948 2Sheets-Sheet 1 l l l I I l l I I Attorney Nov. 14, 1950 s. w. BARKER 0,

COLLECTION OF ARTIFICIAL YARN 0N RING SPINDLES Filed Nov. 24, 1948 2Sheets-Sheet? n Inventor Sums; Wmambmnea 1 his Attorney Patented Nov.14, 1950 s'rrs COLLECTION OF ARTIFICIAL YARN N RING SPINDLES SydneyWarren Barker, Colne, England, assignor to Lustrafil Limited, Nelson,England Application November 24, 1948, Serial No. 61 ,773 InGreatBritain November 27, 1947 This invention relates to the collectionof artificial threads on ring spindles, and in particular to a method ofstarting the winding on ring spindles, and to apparatus therefor.

In the continuous production of artificial threads, the thread afterleaving the spinneret is subjected to various treatments and after beingdried is wound on bobbins. It has been customary to use cap spinnerbobbins since the start of the Winding in this case is conveniently easyeven with high thread speeds, which in modern processes are of the orderof 60 yards per minute and may reach 200 yards per minute or more.

In the continuous production of artificial threads the thread issuingfrom the spinneret into the coagulating medium is led on tothread-storing, thread-advancing rollers where coagulation is completedand the thread is subjected to any desired treatments with liquids anddried. The dried thread is collected on bobbins mounted on rapidlyrevolving vertical spindles. These are either cap spinners or ringspinners. In both types the thread is led on to the bobbin through aguide which, by a suitable up and down traverse motion of the bobbin orof the guide directs the thread to successive portions of the bobbin.The guide in the case of" cap spinning takes the form of a bell-shapedhood or cap suspended 'over the spindle, and either the cap or thespindle moves at an appropriate speed up and down. Inring spinning theguide is a hook or traveller attached to and free to move round a metalring concentric with the axis of the spindle; in this case the ringexecutes the traverse motion which directs the thread to successiveparts of the bobbin.

' The spindle is set to revolve at a predetermined angular speed whichgives to the bobbin 3. peripheral speed considerably greater than therate of delivery of the thread to the collecting device. The result ofthe difierence between the speed of the on-coming thread and theperipheral speed of the bobbin is that the thread is whirled rapidlyround the bobbin in addition to being wound on the bobbin. In capspinning the thread slips round the bottom edge of the cap, whilstinring spinning the ring traveller is whirled round the metal ring.

This ballooning rotation of the thread imparts a twist to it, and theangular speed. of the spindle is so chosen in relation to the speed ofdelivery oi the thread as to produce the desired number of turns perinch of thread.

Thus, suppose thread is being delivered at 400 it. per min. on to abobbin of 1.27 inch diameter,

3 Claims. (Cl. 57.75)

i. e. 4.0 inch circumference, rotated by a spindle at $1,000 R. P. M.The rate of delivery of the thread will be equal to 1200 R. P. M. of thebob- 1n. whirled round the bobbin at 4000 minus 1200, i. e. 2800 R. P.M. There will thus be 2800 twists imparted per minute, i. e. per 400feet of thread, or .583 turn per inch.

Ring spinning has several advantages over cap spinning. The spindles aresimpler; the tension on the thread is more readily controlled, and sincethe traverse motion is executed by the lightweight ring and not by thepackage there is saving in power, and large packages can be woundwithout trouble.

Ring spinners are therefore preferred, but with high speeds of threaddelivery starting up a new bobbin presents a serious problem, since itis then impossible for the operator to deal by hand with the slack whichaccumulates during the time occupied in threading the guides and castingthe thread on to t .e bobbin.

Various procedures have been proposed in the prior art for solving thisproblem.

Thus, in one method, the oncoming thread was led to a vacuum suctionnozzle through which it was drawn into a tube. This disposed of thesurplus thread and the operator was enabled to guide the thread throughthe ring traveller, to pull it down through the ring and to flick it onto the bobbin, at the same time severing the thread between the bobbinand the vacuum nozzle.

Alternatively the oncoming thread was taken to a draw roller having aperipheral speed equal to or somewhat less than the speed of the thread.The thread on its way to the draw roller could then be diverted to thering traveller, pulled down through the ring, flicked on to the bobbinand severed as before. I

In another procedure a separate auxiliary piece of thread was woundround the empty bobbin, the free end passed through the ring travellerand the bobbin placed on the stationary spindle. The free end of theauxiliary thread was then taken up through the lappet guide, the spindlestarted, the free end twisted into the on-coming thread above the lappetguide and the accumulated waste thread broken oil below the joint,on-coming thread above the join being pulled on to the bobbin by theauxiliary thread.

In all these prior methods there are several operations, and the lastone in each case is difficult, requiring considerable dexterity to reachany reasonable degree of efficiency.

The ballooning thread will therefore be It is anobject of the presentinvention to pro-. vide a simple, rapid and easy method of starting upthe collection of thread on a ring spinner, suitable for use with eventhe highest delivery speeds. Further objects will appear from thefollowing description of the invention.

In the method of the invention use is made of a two-speed spindle drive,the lower speed .giving to the bobbin a peripheral speed approaching butnot exceeding the rate of delivery of the thread, whilst the higherspeed is the normal speed for ring-spindles, for example, 4,000 to 0,000B. P. M., i. e. to 20 times the lower speed.

According to the invention in starting up a new bobbin the bobbin isplaced on the spindle revolving at the lower speed, the on-coming threadisv taken by hand, either via the lappet guide or direct, to the bobbin.The thread is then taken through the ring traveller (and through thelappet guide if that has not already been done). Finally the higherspeed drive is thrown into operation and the spindle picks up normalspeed. The operation of starting up occupies only a very few seconds,and there is no accumulation of waste thread during the operathread IIis next taken by a finger 0 of the other hand and caught in thering-traveller 3 on the ring I, and if it does not already pass throughthe lappet guide 2 it is at the same time made to do so. During thisstage of the operation the windings on the bobbin 5 will descend to thelevel of the ring I under the guidance of the hand threading thering-traveller 3. Finally the spindle drive is allowed to pick up normalspeed. Winding and twisting now proceeds smoothly, the thread ballooningout as shown at "I and being directed to the appropriate successiveportions of the bobbin by the relative up and down,

motion between ring 4 and bobbin 5.

Fig. 2 illustrates one example of a means for selectively driving thespindle at two different speeds. The spindle I2 is an axial extension ofa vertical shaft [3 which is integrally formed with a pulley section II.A tape" extends around the pulley i4 and also around another pulley (notshown), the latter being driven by any suitable power unit to rotate thepulley i4 and thus the spindle l2 at a normal running speed, e. g. 5000R. P. M. Pivotally carried by the shaft I3 below the pulley i4 is aspring-urged arm l0 carrying a jockey pulley H, which, in known manneroperates to tension the tape [5. Fixed to the shaft 13 below the arm i6is a spiralggear l8. Slidable parallel to the shaft [3 is a second shaftis carrying at its upper end an intermediate spiral gear 20 adapted whenthe slidable shaft I9 is moved to its uppermost position as hereinafteritself. In combination with any of these modifications of the drivethere may be introduced means for lifting the normal driving tape offthe spindle pulley during the time when the secondary speed gear is inoperation or means for allowing the driving tape to become slack and sopermitting it to slip over the spindle pulley during that time. 1

In order that the invention may more readily understood, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings. wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the initial threading of thethread on to a bobbin,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing a bobbin spindle and oneexample of a means whereby the bobbin may be selectively driven at Idriven by pulley l and tape 8. The on-coming thread i is taken by handand given a turn round the bobbin 5 at a convenient distance above thering 4, the bobbin 5 meanwhile being rotated by the spindle 8 driven atsuch reduced rate (by such means as are more specifically shown in Figs.2, 3 and 4) as to give to the surface of the bobbin a peripheral speedequal to or slightly less than the linear speed of delivery of thethread. The thread at this stage'is wound on the bobbin 0 as fast oralmost as fast as it is delivered, and

bobbin carried by the spindle i2, a lever or other shifting means (notshown) is actuated to displace the slidable shaft l9 upwardly from thefull-line to the dottedline position to mesh the intermediate spiralgear 20 with the gears I8 and 2| and at the same time to swing thejockey pulley I'I. from its full-line position tensioning the tape 15 toits dotted-line position in which the tape I5 is disengaged from thespindle pulley it. Thus the normal drive through the tape it is renderedinoperative and the spindle is driven at a slower speed, e. g. 450 R. P.M. through the shaft 22 and the gears 2|, 20 and I8.

Fig. 3 illustrates a modification of the arrangement shown in Fig. 2,and corresponding parts in both figures are indicated by the samereference numerals. Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that thespindle I2 and the spindle shaft l3 with its pulley II are of the sameconstruction as in Fig. 2, but that the spiral'gear i8 is replaced by aspur gear 23. The secondary drive shaft 22 again carries a spiral gear2i, but the intermediate gear 20 is fixed intermediate the ends of avertical shaft 24, said shaft ends being journalled in bearings to abracket 25 mounted to pivot about the secondary drive shaft 22. Theupper end of the vertical shaft 24.carries a spur gear 28 which may bebrought into mesh with the first-mentioned spur gear 23. 'The operationof this arrangement is similar to that described with reference to Fig.2. For threading or rethr'eading, a lever (not shown) is actuated which,

simultaneously pivots the second-mentioned spur gear 26 from itsdotted-line position into its fullline position in mesh with the gear23, and swings the jockey pulley II to render the tape drive inlittle orno slack accumulates. The loop of operative as above described Thespindle is thus driven at an appropriately slower speed, e. g. 450 R. P.M. until, gears 25, 23 are disengaged and the tape driver is againrendered operative to drive the spindle at its normal running speed, of,for example 5000 R. P. M.

Thus, with both of the examples above described, there is, in effectprovided a two-speed gear by which the spindle l2 may be selectivelydriven at normal running speed or at an appropriately slower speed forthreading purposes.

Fig. 4 illustrates diagrammatically an arrangement whereby the twodifferent speeds are produced electrically. In this arrangement, thebobbin spindle i2 is equipped with a small induction-type electric motor32 supported on a suitable bearing 33. The base 34 of the bobbin 35 andthe spindle l2 above the motor 32 are preferably fitted with insulatingblock 36. The motor 3'! is secured to the spindle l2 and electriccurrent is supplied to the motor windings 38 through the lead 39 and thedouble-throw switch 40. Two sources of electric current are provided,for example, one at 8.5 cycles per second, giving a spindle speed of 490R. P. M., and the other at 110 cycles per second, giving a spindle speedof 6500 R. P. M., so that simply by moving the switch 40, the spindle l2may be rotated at its normal running speed or at slow speed forthreading purposes.

Although three arrangements for selectively driving a spindle at twodifferent speeds are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and havebeen above described, it is obvious that there are many other ways inwhich this result may be achieved. For example, there may be provided,on the spindle shaft, a pair of coaxial tape pulleys each open at itsinner end so that together they form a casing for a two-speed epicyclicgearing so arranged that when the drive is round one of the pulleys, thespindle is rotated at a relatively slow speed, e. g. 490 R. P. M. forthreading purposes, and when it is round the other of the said pulleys,the spindle is rotated at its normal running speed. Any suitable andwell-known belt-shifting mechanism would be provided for selectivelydisplacing the tape to the desired pulley.

I claim:

1. A method of commencing the winding of rapidly delivered thread onring-spindle bobbins which comprises (a) reducing the drive of thering-spindle to such a rate that the peripheral speed at the surface ofthe bobbin approaches but does not exceed the linear rate of delivery ofthe thread, (b) leading the on-coming thread I to the empty bobbin onthe ring spindle and giving it a turn thereon above'the level of thering so that the thread is wound on the bobbin revolving at the reducedspeed, (c) passing the on-coming thread through the ring-traveller, andfinally (d) restoring the ring-spindle drive to normal speed.

2. A method of commencing the winding of rapidly delivered thread onring-spindlebobbins which comprises (a) leading the on-coming threadthrough a lappet guide to the empty ringspindle bobbin and giving it aturn thereon above the level of the ring, the ring-spindle at this stagebeing driven at such reduced rate that the peripheral speed at thesurface of the bobbin approaches but does not exceed the linear rate ofdelivery of the thread, (b) allowing the thread to be wound on thebobbin whilst guiding thethread by hand so that successive turns ofthread approach the level of the ring, (0) immediately that level isreached passing the thread through the ring-traveller, and finally (d)restoring the ring-spindle drive to normal speed.

3. A method'of starting the winding of rapidly delivered thread onring-spindle bobbins which comprises, driving the ring-spindle at such arate that the peripheral speed at the surface of the bobbin approachesbut does not exceed the linear rate of delivery of the thread, leadingthe on-coming thread to the empty ring-spindle bobbin and giving it aturn thereon above the level of the ring so that the thread is wound onthe bobbin, passing the on-coming thread through the ring-traveller, andfinally increasing the rate of ring-spindle drive to normal speed.

SYDNEY WARREN BARKER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Huse Oct. 18, 1870Number

